


Amore Nihil Mollius, Nihil Violentius

by WhisperingAFantasy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Epilogue What Epilogue, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26372848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingAFantasy/pseuds/WhisperingAFantasy
Summary: Based on the HMS Harmony Discord Tuesday Drabble prompt - After dying during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry finds himself in the future... where Hermione Granger is the new Dark Lord because the only person she ever loved, Harry Potter, had died.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Hermione Granger
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79
Collections: HMS Harmony Discord Drabbles





	Amore Nihil Mollius, Nihil Violentius

**Author's Note:**

> Not proofread. Any mistakes are my own. Thank you for reading.
> 
> Clearly this got a tad longer than 200 words.

**_Amore Nihil Mollius, Nihil Violentius_ **

( _Nothing is more tender, nothing is more violent than love)_

  
  


As the green ray of light flashed towards him, Harry Potter stood still accepting his fate, closing his eyes. 

Visions of a smiling girl as she ran to him in the Great Hall giving him the first hug he could ever remember receiving and again the same girl gently slipping her glove covered hand into his as they stood in front of the graves of his parents filling his mind. His last thoughts were - I’ll finally have that wish fulfilled I made on that night months ago standing besides you Hermione… I’m tired so very tired of being me, I hope you forgive me… and thank you for everything. 

And then he knew no more.

He opened his eyes to a blinding light and on instinct put his arm over them shielding them and felt his glasses were missing. 

Then a gentle voice called him out and when he still didn’t respond someone touched his elbow and realising that there wasn’t any more of that blinding light surrounding him he slowly moved his arm and blinked a couple of times before he could feel comfortable enough to look around. 

The first thing he noticed was a very familiar crib and a tiny blue comforter in it, a couple of stuffed animals and realised that this was the first time that this room didn’t look like the haunted vision of so many of his nightmares and dementor induced trauma he was forced to live through in his third year.

He saw the room was painted in shades of white and yellow and there was a changing station, a rocking chair and a cupboard that looked like it contained all his supplies. There were a couple of books lying on a table in between the rocking chair and the crib and he noticed the covers which promptly informed him that they were a mix of muggle and wizarding fairytales. He smiled despite himself as he gently touched a finger over the covers and wondered did both of his parents read them to him or was it just one, if so was it his mum or dad? Pity he couldn’t ever know nor would the blasted dementors make him remember the pleasant times from the first fifteen months of his life; when he was safe and secure, when he had parents, when he instinctively knew he was loved.

He wondered if this was heaven and then immediately shook his head, how could this place be heaven even though it’s not looking like a fucking bomb went off in it for the first time when neither of his parents were around to hug or comfort him. No… he wondered, horrified and scared, did that son of a bitch Voldemort use some dark magic to send him here in the afterlife to torment and mock him or as some sick joke at his expense? He didn’t even know if such magic was even possible but if it were, he knew that the bastard would have found it and learned how to use it, he has no doubts about it… he could have found it, him and Hermione. 

The thought of her very name sent a pang through him but he knew he couldn’t allow himself the luxury to mourn the loss of his life and with it that of the dearest and truest friend and partner he ever had. He knows that if this hellhole is a torture device, Hermione would encourage him to find a way out of it and with that thought resolved he remembered the words he had heard from her so long ago,

“ _You’re a great wizard, Harry.”_

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment yet again determined to get out of this place. 

Opening his eyes he turned around and abruptly stood as his eyes fell on the two figures standing in the doorway. A tall young man with hair as messy as his, blue eyes and a mouth that looked like it was made for laughing in dark blue jeans and a fading white T-shirt, with his arm over a woman’s shoulder who wore a shade of blue that he remembers Hermione wearing to the Yule Ball. He doesn’t know what it’s called but it looks as pretty on her as it did on Hermione and he noticed her red hair and green eyes as they threatened to overflow while she had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. 

He doesn’t know if this is meant to further induce his post-life insanity or torture but the words slipped out in a choked whisper before he knew he was uttering them.

“Mum, dad?”

And the woman in front of him made a very familiar cry of _Oh Harry_ before she ran to him and engulfed him in the strongest hug he has received from anyone aside from Hermione and he wondered if he could stay in this place just to experience his mum’s hugs as tears spilled onto his cheeks and before he knew it, he felt another presence as the hug became three-way and he felt his father’s hand run over the back of his head and didn’t even realise before he found himself borrowing his head in the crook of his neck and heard the words, let it all out son, we’re here and the floodgates broke. 

He doesn’t know how long he stood there crying enveloped in the warmth of his parents embrace but he would stay here and cry for an eternity if it meant he had this, he had them - even if it was to be a torture or some sick joke or whatever it was that Voldemort was thinking. 

Finally his mum gently wiped away his tears and gave him a kiss, and he felt a warmth wash over him that soothed away all his aches and pains; and realised she had kissed him exactly where his lightning bolt scar was supposed to be.

“Oh Harry.” She spoke again and looked at him with such fascination, adoration, pride and love that his heart threatened to burst from his chest. All he wanted was this forever, every time he saw some kid with his parents and now he knew what it felt like when your mum smiled at you like that, like you’re her whole world. He smiled despite himself and saw his father surreptitiously wiping away his tears. 

He realised that they had all been on their knees all this while and wondered when had it happened but didn’t care. 

And for the first time he heard his father speak to him.

“We’re so sorry son, we couldn’t be there for you. With you. We never wanted this… believe me. We… wanted to grow old and raise you, give you a couple of siblings and watch you’ll go to school, start a career, fall in love and start families of your own as your mum and I then spoiled our grandkids silly. We wanted so much for you Harry… and we …”

His father choked on his last words and he felt his mum lay a gentle palm to his cheek as she then slipped a hand to hold his dad’s as she smiled at Harry and for some reason he couldn’t help but recall how Hermione would hold his hand in a similar manner whenever he felt too overwhelmed. 

“We don’t have a lot of time James. We must hurry up.” She gently told him and his father nodded while ice shot through Harry’s veins.

“No, no, no. You can’t leave me. I just got you!” He all but screamed throwing his arms around his parents as he sat in the middle of their huddle on the floor and felt arms go around him.

“Harry, trust me if we had another chance to do all of this again we would but we don’t and we can’t stay here forever and neither can you son.” He heard his mother’s soothing voice in his ear as she rubbed his back. 

“What do you even mean by that? I don’t have anywhere to go, I don’t have anyone to go too. I want to be here with you two. Don’t… don’t you want me?” He choked out the last words in a whisper as he withdrew his arms from around them. 

“Harry James Potter! How can you even say that?!” He heard his father’s stern voice and for the first time realised that he had never heard it from the two men he knew with kids of their own - Vernon Dursley and Arthur Weasley- but for some reason it didn’t scare him. He realised he had missed on this as well as so much more and just stared at his father.

“Harry” his mum spoke his name again and he saw her looking at him as if he had disappointed her and made her too angry for words at the same time and his heart broke. He never wanted her to feel like that, never wanted to see her look at him like that ever again.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, ducking his head; too ashamed to meet their eyes when his mother messed up his hair again and instinctively he cried out a _mum_. And laughter broke as his father proudly proclaimed, “oh that’s so my boy!” 

And before he knew it, his mum was doing the same thing but to his father this time as he cried out, “Harry help me.” 

He chuckled as his father gave him a wink and somehow though the words weren’t spoken he understood his dad pretended to hate someone messing up his hair too just so his mum would keep doing that; because he secretly loved it and his heart felt full in a way it never had. 

His parents then looked at him once the laughter had died down and each of them held a hand as they looked at him, when his father gave a subtle nod to his mum as she smiled and asked him, 

“Harry, we couldn’t stop all the awful things that happened in your life…. no matter what we wanted. But we have no regrets about dying to protect you son. Nothing and I mean nothing else has made it worth it than to watch you grow up into this wonderful young man that you are today. But…”

He blushed as his mum was praising him but as she stopped his brow furrowed and he looked at her lost and confused when his father spoke up.

“Dumbledore played you all his life and he even wanted to do it here, that old wrinkly bastard. I’ve never been happier to hear a soul was sent to hell than when I did once he showed up for his judgment.”

“James!” His mother chided his father slapping his forearm.

“Oops. Got sidetracked there, sorry love.” He heard James Potter apologise and Harry saw his father drop a quick kiss on his mother’s head as she rolled her eyes even as she mouthed, silly man but he could see she was pleased as a smile crept on her lips. 

His father squeezed his shoulder gently as he resumed again,

“Do you know why your mum’s sacrifice worked that night for you, Harry?”

Whatever he was expecting, this certainly wasn’t that and Harry shook his head dumbfounded, mutely. 

His mother took a shaky breath and shook her head, looking sharply at his father.

“Right, I thought as much. James you know what. Call that old bastard all the names you want.”

She then turned to face him even as he saw his father’s face split into the biggest grin ever and wanted to quietly chuckle at the man. He mused silently, his father was so different and yet so similar to the things he had heard or learned about him but he still didn’t fit into any one mould of any one version he had heard about him. 

And before he could ponder further, his mother spoke. 

“Harry, the night I sacrificed myself for you honey. I did it out of love, the overwhelming and selfless love that only a parent can feel for their child could have done that. It could have been just as easily your dad sacrificing himself instead of me and the results would have been the same and in some ways I’ve never stopped wondering what if that had been the case. At least Dumbledore couldn’t have used the excuse of blood wards to make you suffer so, to make you pliable and groom you. It was rotten luck Harry, just a case of bad timing, that it was your dad who was in the hallway when that monster broke into our house while I was in the nursery with you. Not five minutes before that, your dad was here changing your nappies while I had been doing the dishes in the kitchen. If what happened, had taken place just five minutes before, it wouldn’t have been me who would have been the one doing the sacrificing here.”

The wind was knocked out of Harry as he realised he had never even given this scenario a thought. Before he could think more about this, his father’s voice brought him back to reality yet again.

“Son, while we are really very proud of you; of all that you are and all that you’ve become we are here today to tell you that you’ve wasted your sacrifice.”

Before he knew it, Harry reeled back as if struck and couldn’t help but wonder what made his dad say that as a knot twisted itself in his stomach. 

“Harry” his mum called him and instinctively his eyes sought hers as she held his left hand in both of hers as she squeezed it tightly before she began. 

“Love, while what you did was noble, it wouldn’t work the way you thought it would. Especially when you thought you could finally... get some peace” he noticed how she choked on the last words and felt like she was about to say something else but changed her words as if it was physically painful for her to utter them. 

“Harry, for a sacrifice to work the way your mum’s did, the person dying has to wholeheartedly understand what they’re doing and do it for the one they love and son, can you honestly tell me that you loved everyone at Hogwarts? All the students there - in the same way we love you?”

And he was shaking his head before he even knew it and was horror struck at the thought. Hermione, Ron, Luna, Hagrid… his mind screamed as he thought of Voldemort winning despite his sacrifice and what he’d do to his friends.

“What have I done? He’ll kill them. He’ll kill them all and he won’t stop there and it was all a waste.”

“Harry!” his mother’s sharp voice brought him back and he snapped back to reality. 

“Mum! He’ll kill my friends! He’ll kill everyone! What did I do? I thought … I thought” and he threw himself in her arms shaking all over unable to finish what he was saying. 

She hugged him fiercely and then drew back smiling at him, as she cupped his face in her hands as she told him.

“Your friends will live, Harry.”

And tension drained from his body in an instant.

“Then why would you say that it’s a waste if they all lived?” He demanded from his parents. 

“Because… because your sacrifice would unleash the era of a new dark lord…” his father said haltingly.

“Lady, I think you meant Dark Lady.” His mum interjected and he saw them exchange a look, and it was as if they were sharing some inside joke he wasn’t on but he shook them more mystified than ever with their words and they came back to reality and looked chagrined. 

“Right… Harry… what we are about to show you is the future. Hold on tight son.” His dad said as his parents held hands and then with their free ones reached out to hold his and he was thrust in a dark Hogwarts where screams were prevalent and he saw the likes of Bellatrix, the Malfoys, Fudge, Rita Skeeter and so many more he didn’t recognise shackled and naked with blood oozing from the various cuts all over their bodies. They were clearly in a lot of pain and were begging for death but being kept alive. 

He saw Neville, sweet and gentle Neville enjoying tearing a strip of flesh from Bellatrix’s thigh as she screamed and Neville delighted in her pain.

Then came Luna, kind and innocent Luna as she prodded a device into Rita’s eye as the woman bled and thrashed but Luna wouldn’t stop as she clapped muttering something he couldn’t hear over Rita’s wails. 

Hagrid, oh what happened to him, he wondered for the friendly giant had lost all his cheerfulness and was using a belt on Fudge, who screamed out each time the leather came in contact with his skin. 

He feared Ron appearing next, but the thought of him saw Harry plunged into a different scenario as Ron and the other Weasleys barring Fred, were enjoying themselves in some snow clad region and he saw Ron looking older, but not a lot; maybe two years or so as he placed a hand on a woman’s growing tummy as Molly came up to them with a plate of food she placed in front of the unknown woman. His eyes then fell on Ginny who was dancing with Cormac McLaggen of all people and he did a double take and it was then that his eyes fell on the huge banner on the wall behind them - Ginny weds Cormac. 

And while he didn’t begrudge them for moving on, he couldn’t help but feel a pang that they all seemed so happy without him. Like he was a forgotten chapter - even Ron and Ginny. 

And his mind thought of his other best friend, wondering if she too had forgotten him and moved on… and what he saw terrified him. 

Hermione was sitting on the headmaster’s chair in the Great Hall, no trace of the warmth he had come to associate with her on her face as it was a mask of cold indifference.

“Did you bring him Kreacher?” She asked the small form bowed in front of her and to his horror he realised that Kreacher wasn’t the only elf there but there were perhaps hundreds of them kneeling down in front of the girl he once knew to be their champion. 

“Yes Mistress.” The elf simpered and with a snap of his fingers a bound and gagged man he recognised as Fenrir Greyback appeared in front of Hermione and she smiled, a cold smile that sent chills down his veins. 

“You’ve done well, my pet.” She told the elf and he prostrated himself.

And Harry couldn’t help but ogle at the sight. 

What happened to Hermione, his head screamed. 

And then she made a gesture with her hand and two more elves came smiling evilly on either sides of the werewolf before they bowed down in front of Hermione with looks that spoke of adoration and devotion, the maniacal kind which Bellatrix had sported whenever she spoke of Riddle.

“My pets, take this filth to the chamber and you know what to do to him.” 

And they hurried to fulfill her command and Harry saw the werewolf disappear again and was transported to the same chamber as before and to his horror realised it was the chamber of secrets where all the others were being tortured. Elves bringing snacks for his friends as they took over from them making the prisoners scream with various means of torture.

He noticed Fenrir taken to the back of the lot and getting magically bound and hung from the ceiling much like the others, his clothes disappearing as well and as he felt uncomfortable at the sight his eyes popped when he saw the two figures besides the monstrous werewolf - two familiar figures - his aunt and uncle in the same state as the others and unconscious. 

Next he saw Hermione walk to a room he had never been to in Hogwarts in all his years as she placed a hand over a large stone that glowed golden and white in turns and give it a cold, lopsided smile. 

It was the first time he noticed her hands had scars and looked like they had been burned recently and not yet fully recovered and he wondered what happened to the best girl he knew. What was this place, what was she doing, what happened to her. So many questions and no way to talk to her for he had tried calling out to his friends when he first saw them but realised he could see and hear them but they couldn’t even notice his presence. 

Suddenly he was jerked back and found himself sprawled on the floor in the nursery with his parents hovering over him and his father helped him sit back though he felt his head whirling. 

“What was that?” He mumbled as soon as he could speak without the fear of throwing up all over himself or worse his parents. 

He saw his parents exchange yet another silent look where they communicated and his mum spoke up.

“That Harry is the future exactly 2 years from now.”

“What?! How is that even possible? I don’t think I understand anything.”

His mother sighed as his father put an arm around her pulling her into him and he saw she went willingly and wiped tears that had pooled in her eyes.

“Harry, love… that was what your sacrifice would lead too. The moment you were pulled back from, it’s almost a minute before you… you took that spell again from that monster. Hermione was in the foundation of Hogwarts, in the wardstone room and she was about to use it.”

“Use it for what?” He asked, unable to grasp what she was getting at, unable to help himself and saw his father squeeze his mother’s shoulder before he spoke up. 

“To blow up magical Britain for good.”

“WHAT?!” He yelled out before he knew what he was doing. 

His mother moved out of his father’s arms and gently took both his hands in hers. She spoke looking at him, with eyes much like his own but yet somehow different. She looked so young and so old at the same time he didn’t know how to comfort her for she looked at him with such concern and heartbreak in those eyes. 

“Harry, what we showed you was the future of magical Britain. After… after you sacrificed yourself, Hermione summoned your wand, the Elder wand and it submitted to her and we realise it’s because you were the true master of the Hallows but you had been sharing Hermione’s wand after yours broke in Godric’s Hollow, that an affinity was established between your magics. You two were always so close that her wand easily let you wield it but a connection works two ways and just as she had grown close to you over the years; so did you Harry particularly over the time you two were alone the past couple of months and the sharing of a wand like that between two magical people; while the original owner of the wand is still alive and not related by blood only happens when they are bonded.”

“ _Bonded_?!” He asked puzzled, a furrow appearing on his brow.

“You might say you’re as good as married to Hermione, Harry.” His father said solemnly.

“What?!” He yelped and his father found his arm slapped again by his mother. 

“James Charlus Potter!”

“Oh oh…not the middle name too.”

He heard his father mumble as his mum glared at him and he felt terrified on his father’s behalf as his mum looked scary. He wondered if he should back away from them to let them resolve this in private when she suddenly turned to him.

“Harry you’ll believe no such thing! You’re not married to Hermione, _yet_. But yes, what we were telling you essentially means that she’s your perfect match. There’s no such things as soulmates or soul bonds or whatever tripe the likes of Molly Skeeter would like to sell but there is something called affinity of magics. It’s not instantaneous and it’s not even well known but it is the only thing that exists. Two people who grow close since their magical auras are so compatible. It can happen overtime or it can happen in a short period where things happen organically yet spontaneously. If they’re able to maintain that connection, it’s the strongest bond that could exist between two magical people. It might happen between two witches, two wizards or even a witch and a wizard. In some cases they stay lifelong friends, some bond like siblings but also most of them go on to marry their partner in magic, their affiliate because they have never felt closer to another person and shared something so personal to them, their magic as their wand willingly and freely with them.” 

“And you know a fucker who knew that and had a similar bond too with the previous dark wanker, Grindelwald.” His dad piped in unceremoniously and Harry’s eyes widened at the implication. 

“Language James!” His mum scolded his dad and it was so Hermione-ish he couldn’t help but chuckle. 

She turned to him with narrowed eyes and scowled at him, 

“Find it funny do you, Harry James Potter?”

And some instinct of self preservation had him furiously shake his head as his chuckles subsided instantly. Blimey! He thought, mum’s scary but wisely kept the words to himself.

And before he knew it he was speaking.

“You reminded me of Hermione so much in that instant that I couldn’t help it mum, I swear I wasn’t laughing at you scolding dad. You can do it all you want I swear. He signed up for this.”

“Oi!” his father said affronted as he could swear he heard a muffled traitor. 

His mum though looked rather pleased with that statement. 

“I suppose that’s okay then. She’s a lovely girl and I know how she loves you Harry.”

And his eyes must have threatened to fall out of his sockets when he heard that because he had never heard that. On some level he knew Hermione cared about him but no one, not even Hermione had ever said she loved him. And with a wave of grief, longing and sadness he realised as his shoulders hunched over that no one in his life had ever said those words to him, at all. Not even once. 

“Harry.”

Concern filled his mother’s voice as she gently lifted his head to make him look at her. 

Gulping, he looked at her and saw his parents looking at him with such heartbreak etched across their faces that he didn’t know how to handle it.

“We love you son.” They spoke in unison. 

They told him and he was once again a recipient of a three-way embrace, as he heard those three words he had so yearned for all his life for the first time ever.

“Harry.” his mother cooed as she rubbed his back when his father let go.

“Harry we are so sorry… but this is why we are here baby. We wanted to let you know your noble intentions were for nought as after you were gone… Hermione lost all the warmth and love she ever held. Without even knowing what she was doing, she summoned the darkest and deadliest wand of all time like it was child’s play and unleashed hell that day as she mutilated Tom Riddle’s body. She didn’t just kill him Harry, she all but destroyed him for what he did to you. And then she turned around and killed as many of his followers as she could find. When the tides turned your friends found a new wave of enthusiasm and they too fought and killed as many as they could; all except for the Weasleys who cowered at the sight in front of them and ran to take cover within Hogwarts. Molly wouldn’t let them fight and she didn’t fight herself. She made them all rush back inside where they stayed until all those who could be killed were dead but still a few of them managed to flee but not for long.”

“Hermione wouldn’t let your sacrifice go in vain. She was furious and she wanted to know what happened to make you go sacrifice yourself and immediately rushed to that old man’s office where she saw Snivellous’s memory in the penseive and all but blew up his tower in rage. Only her favourite teacher being around stopped that from happening.” His father continued.

“Hermione would go onto use forbidden magic found in Dumbledore’s archives to bond all elves all over magical Britain to herself over the course of the next two months. She would treat them well but gone was the girl you knew for she made them her weapons as she was aware how witches and wizards, particularly the old pure bloods underestimated them. She allowed those who were abused to kill their former masters if they so pleased or do whatever they wished to do with them allowing them an opportunity to exact revenge for years of abuse in so many instances that they all but worship Hermione. And then she had them capture all the escaped death eaters, the marked and unmarked one, every single corrupt ministry employee and those who failed you and Sirius. She even included my sister and her husband, but spared Dudley because you had told her how he had mended his ways and apologised to you at the end of your seventh year and you had forgiven him.” His mother spoke gravely.

“She allowed the Weasleys to leave Britain and you saw them in Romania where they took refuge in that vision. She was furious about their cowardice and refusal to fight using deadly spells in the middle of a damn war but spared them because they had housed and fed you multiple times over the years and Molly sent you gifts even if she felt no love for that family any longer. Your best mate Ron…” his father spat the last words out through clenched teeth…”he was the first to accept that deal and ran with it and Molly soon joined him and the family was packed and gone within 24 hours to Romania.”

”McLaggen lost his father shortly to natural causes and took over Nimbus Racing Broom Company.”

“What?! McLaggen owned the company that manufactured the Nimbus?”

“Honestly Harry is that all you took away from that?” His mother shook her head and gave a sigh throwing her hands up in defeat as she spoke in an exasperated tone, “What is with boys and brooms?” 

As she was reigning herself back in as the two men wisely stayed mum but shared amused glances. 

“Anyway, yes Cormac owns the company that manufactures that ridiculous flying stick and he too fled to Romania after his old man died because he was afraid of Hermione coming after him for how he behaved with her in Sluggie’s party but he need not have concerned himself because Hermione had only one goal, to avenge you and that was all. He met the Weasleys there and that… that hussy had him wrapped around her fingers in no time and well, you saw what that led to and that boy was such an idiot he thought he had her played but he was the one being played all along.”

“Mum… did you just call Ginny a hussy?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Yes I did! Did you think I’d call Molly Weasley that?”

“Oh this reminds me mum, he cut in, “I think you got mixed up about another woman and called her Molly too but that Skeeter woman’s first name is Rita.”

For a moment his mother looked confused until understanding dawned on her face.

“Oh darling, I was talking about Rita’s mum who coincidentally is called Molly too. She wrote a trashy book that sold like hot cakes though it didn’t make a lick of sense as the only thing she did right was to market it well. It was about soulmates and soul bonds and all that nonsense which I told you is fake but people ate it all up with a spoon, how do you think Rita got her penchant for spinning around tales? Her mum read a lot of muggle fiction and came up with that utter trash as I recognised passages that were from some of the books I had read, copied word for word but I had no way of bringing down that fraud of a woman even though I knew it was nonsense, cheap fiction she sold as some old forgotten knowledge.”

“So she was the Lockhart, before Lockhart was even around?” Harry asked her, curious. 

“Yes. Only less adventurous and more romantic tripe.” His mother confirmed giving him a pleased look as he caught on. 

“And obviously not half as good looking as that fraud.” His father chipped in amused. 

Just then he saw a faint blue light appear in the middle of the room just above their heads and while he didn’t understand his parents obviously knew what was going on. 

“Darling, listen we are running out of time and this is why we had to meet you here. You must go back instead of just staying here. The future depends on your survival because without you, Hermione will go dark and that lovely young woman doesn’t deserve it. She’s in pain Harry, so much pain from your loss because you were the first person who cared about her when you jumped on that troll to save her all the way back in your first year and she became so dedicated to you. You never asked her and never picked it up either, but Hermione never speaks about her home, her family either because she has no one to care for her either honey. Her parents had her after being married for a long time but what her mother didn’t know was that her father was already having an affair with a much younger woman and eventually, at the end of your first year they divorced after her father had a string of affairs that her mother couldn’t put up with. That’s why Hermione was so bookish, when her parents argued they locked her in her room and all she was allowed was books to distract herself. Three years later her mother remarried and the stepfather was an utterly awful man who had designs on Hermione, he got her mother addicted to drinking and after that Hermione might as well have been a sitting duck in that home when her mother got too drunk for her own good. That’s why she chose to spend more and more time away from her home. Her father never looked back once to ask how she was doing. That’s why she would spend time at the Burrow, that creepy house Sirius’s family lived in because anywhere was better than her home where she couldn’t feel safe anymore.”

Harry’s blood ran cold as bile threatened to rise up in his throat at the picture his mother had just painted in front of him. 

“That single act of yours made her feel cared for for the first time in her life Harry.” His father spoke softly with a look of pride in his eyes as he continued. “That’s why she never abandoned you, because you were the one who didn't abandon her in that bathroom to her fate that day son. 

“And slowly friendship became more to her but she never spoke up, not once but she was in love with you son. She has been for a very long time.” His mother said kindly.

“But why did she never say that?” He asked as the news hit him like a bludger. _Hermione was in love with him?!_

“Because of that hussy! She used your crush on that Cho girl to make it seem like you preferred the popular girls, the ones who loved that stupid game and weren’t just interested in it, but played it too. And when Hermione saw you were hung up on Cho for so long she thought it was right. Then you didn’t once ask her after she was injured at the department of mysteries how she was doing but instead were happy and busy playing games with the Weasleys and Hermione was heartbroken thinking you didn’t even care about her. She saw it didn’t matter to you what happened to her and she realised that if you couldn’t care about something that nearly killed her, how could you ever love her? Especially the way she wanted to be loved by you. While that hussy, after you were dead, she felt like she lost the toy she most wanted and sulked like the spoilt child she was, but it didn’t take too long for her to move on because Harry… she wanted the Boy who lived and not you, not Harry… so when she found an idiot she could live a life of luxury with and could easily manipulate with sex she didn’t wait too long. In fact, what you saw Harry was a wandpoint wedding which she wanted before she started showing in a couple of weeks and McLaggen being the idiot he was had no choice because you just don’t knock-up the daughter of a family from the Sacred 28 and think you can run out on her.”

Harry reeled with all that he was learning and a part of him was grateful that he never had become too intimate with the girl even as a part of him chided him for being so vain and stupid, he didn’t even know her all that well and apart from Quidditch there was nothing that they shared as a common ground, and even there more than the sport he loved the freedom of flying. He was devoted to giving his 100 percent on the field because he had never been chosen to play before ever for anything in his muggle school or even his neighbourhood thanks to his own scrawny stature and Dudley’s influence but he wasn’t a fanatic about the sport like the Weasleys were - he recalled Ginny talking about joining the Holyhead harpies to him once and wanting him to come watch her play when she made it to the team and idiot that he was he had felt flattered back then but now that he had this new information about the girl he wondered just how much of it was her wish to watch him watch her play and how much was it about showing off that he was watching her play.

But amongst the numerous thoughts and emotions that flooded him, the most powerful emotion of all was related to his best friend. He suddenly realised what he had done to Hermione in his ignorance.

He wanted to say so much but the guilt was overpowering and overwhelming him.

“Son..” his father spoke, “we know that you were burying your grief in wasting your time away playing with your friends and when that walking stomach pulled you to play a round of chess or quidditch you couldn’t deny him. But that all affected Hermione because she didn’t know that you were resorting to escapism.”

“And then you decided that you suddenly fancied that hussy out of the blue and Hermione was crushed but she smiled when it happened for your sake because at least you were happy.” His mother added.

“But I always thought she had feelings for Ron.” Harry said in a resigned tone.

“Harry… she put up with him because of you… all those years. She was grateful for the escape his home provided her eventually but it was nothing more than that.” James Potter spoke and Harry could see how his father too felt dejected by what it was that Hermione had quietly been suffering.

“When Hermione lost you Harry, she didn’t just lose the one person she loved and was absolutely devoted to, could have died for - she lost all sense of purpose. You weren’t just her best friend or the boy she loved Harry. You became the centre of her universe. Her whole world was wrapped up in you and while she could have survived knowing that you don’t love her the way she loves you, she wasn’t strong enough to survive in a world without you. She set out to avenge you and destroy all who hurt you before she sought to blow up the world that you died for but which never cared about you. She got labelled as the Dark Lady because she started hunting down those pure bloods who were responsible for this war in one way or another. And she inspired such a faith and loyalty in your other friends that they willingly joined her on this dark road that they knew would end in chaos and destruction.”

His mother intoned gravely looking at him and Harry had to choke down a maelstrom of emotions. His heart broke for Hermione… oh Hermione. He wanted to do something he rarely did on his own, he wanted to engulf the bravest, brightest girl he knew in the most fierce hug ever and never let her go. 

“Now do you understand why you’ve got to go back Harry?” His father asked softly. 

“But what about you two? I just got to be with you.” He spoke like a child and felt like one too.

“We’ll be waiting for you son, and hope you’re not gonna be here until at least a hundred years or even more and when you do, we’ll be here just waiting to have you back in our arms. We want this for you Harry. Don’t feel guilty son. If you love us, please live the life we had hoped for you. Live, and love and laugh for both of us. And when it’s your time, you’ll find us and your godfather and all those people who are waiting for you but want you to live because they love you Harry.” His father spoke with misty eyes and Harry felt a warmth unlike anything he had ever felt in his chest.

“And Harry”, his mother interjected with a mischievous look in her eyes,” make a couple of beautiful grandchildren with that beautiful and brilliant girl of yours, would you? We wouldn’t be able to spoil them silly but we would surely appreciate watching over them.”

Harry blushed scarlet at his mother’s not so subtle directions and he just noticed when she smiled she had dimples on her cheeks and a smile with such perfect teeth that Hermione would approve of them and he shyly nodded before he felt engulfed by both his parents again and in a flash of golden light found himself waking up in Hagrid’s arms who sobbed as he held him gently to his chest, cradling his body oh so carefully and he felt an appreciation for this gentle giant and his friendship. 

Then it was madness and chaos unleashed as hell broke loose and finally when he had a chance, this time he didn’t hold back, he didn’t even blink before he used a bombarda maxima and blew up the monster who had reigned terror, ruined countless lives including his own into a thousand little pieces and then for good measure, set those pieces to fiendfyre, one which took the shape of a phoenix as it came to life and incredibly the fire burned more than Riddle’s remains to ashes as with the same; he heard screams from all around him as death eaters clutched their left arms in pain and started to spasm before their bodies combusted simultaneously. In less than three minutes, the lives of all those who had sought to wreak havoc over Hogwarts were reduced to lifeless corpses.

Pin-drop silence followed for a while as he stood still breathing hard, not realising how fiendfyre was so draining and before he knew it Neville Longbottom was standing before him and in a rare gesture of joviality and display of strength, the quiet unassuming boy he had known for years now engulfed him in a bear-hug before he all but lifted Harry in his arms and Harry choked out a laugh. 

“Harry, you're alive. We won, Harry we won.” The boy kept saying. 

And Harry had to shake his shoulders to gain Neville’s attention as he laughed out,

“Longbottom don’t you dare drop me on my bottom.”

And the boy guffawed as he realised what he was doing and let Harry down, throwing his arms around Harry again. 

“Our parents were avenged today Harry.” He quietly spoke in Harry’s ear and Harry knew exactly how Neville felt and giving him a tight squeeze whispered back, “ Yes they were Neville, yes they were.”

He then turned around only to find Hermione standing for her turn but Ron Weasley beat her to it as he hugged Harry but Harry had eyes only for Hermione who let the boys have their moment. When Ron moved back, he saw Harry eying Hermione and before the redhead could say another word, Harry had moved away from him and closed the distance between him and Hermione in three quick steps. 

He saw she was about to hug him but he recalled his mother’s words and instead of throwing his arms around her, he cupped her face and before she knew it, had captured her lips in a kiss. He could hear Ron’s muffled screams but didn’t care. Hermione was shocked momentarily, but she soon had her arms around him and her fingers carded through his hair pulling him closer, a wish he was only too happy to fulfill. His tongue darted out to gain entrance to her mouth which she provided so easily and as she moaned softly into the kiss, he knew he had never heard a sweeter sound until she parted from him and with her kiss swollen lips, said his name in a husky whisper that went straight to his groin. 

He smiled at her and though he could hear another set of muffled screams this time, as they sounded eerily like another redhead’s, he didn’t care and pulled Hermione close again, to capture her mouth gently this time around. 

When he released her lips, he saw her eyes were shining but she was also clearly confused, but before she could start asking him thousands of questions he put a gentle finger to her lips. 

“Shh, we’ll have time for all your questions later. I plan on being around you for a while… if you’ll have me. Right now, just… just know this, I had to do that Hermione. I had too. Do you regret it?” He spoke to her in a soft voice. 

She shook her head in the negative for a response and he engulfed her in his arms again, sighing happily and more content than he had ever felt in his life and murmured into her hair.

“Good, neither do I. I… I realised a lot of things today Hermione and while I can’t speak about all of them right now or even today, know that I’ve learned the most important lesson of my life today.”

She then took a step back and even as her arms were still around him and he heard people around them celebrating as well as moving around this way and that, somehow they were left alone as if everyone knew better than to disturb their saviour in the single most important moment of his life.

“And what lesson would that be, Harry?” She asked him, ever the curious mind and he softly chuckled before pecking her lips again as he cupped her face yet again and realised he loved doing that, his thumbs traced the soft curve of her cheeks and she smiled and gently sought more of his touch, as his eyes looked at her softly,

“I learned about my priorities Hermione, I learned who is the most important person in my life and it’s you. I just never knew that until today. I’m sorry for taking so long.”

“Oh Harry!” She exclaimed as she threw her arms around him and he lifted her in his arms much as he had been lifted by Neville not too long ago and the best part was that Hermione trusted him enough to never once ask him to be careful and not drop her.

Three weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter travelled to Canada, on his first international, hell first ever trip with his best friend and now girlfriend of three days Hermione Granger to complete their education.

Six months later, he was confessing his love to her. 

Two years later, he was on one knee asking her the most important question of his life and she agreed.

Six months from that day they were married and nearly three years later Harry Potter found himself fondly gazing at his twins - Liam and Evelyn, who had finally fallen asleep as had his wife after a long and hard labor and his heart brimmed with so much love and happiness as he kept gazing between the three people he loved the most in this world he knew why his parents wanted him to return to this world.

As his eyes adored his sleeping children, with their cute cheeks and rosebud mouths, these kids who had become his world even though they weren’t even a day old yet; he knew he would lay down his life for them in an instant should the need arise, much as his parents did for him, but he’d also want to live with them, for them and love them more than anything he had ever loved in this world. 


End file.
